Hawkins Squadron Meeting, July 12: The “Ike Dike”

Join us Thursday evening, July 12, at Olympia Grill at Pier 21 in Galveston at 1800 for the Hawkins Squadron bimonthly meeting.(Please note the change of location!)A meet-and-greet session will begin at 1800, followed by dinner beginning around 6:30 and the evening’s program at 1900. And what a program!

Our speaker will be Colonel Len Waterworth, U.S. Army, Ret., who will discuss hurricane mitigation and the all-important “Ike Dike” concept being developed to protect the Galveston Bay area. As bad as Hurricane Ike was a decade ago, it could have been much worse; we dodged a bullet. Before Ike hit, the forecast predicted a 25 foot storm surge up Galveston Bay. We were looking at possibly a $100 billion hurricane, that could have killed hundreds, left thousands homeless and jobless, devastated the nation’s largest petrochemical complex, and crippled its busiest port. But that scenario can be prevented, or at least significantly reduced, based on the best practices adopted elsewhere, including in the Netherlands and, since Hurricane Katrina, in New Orleans.

Colonel Waterworth is Executive Professor in the Department of Maritime Administration at Texas A&M University at Galveston. Colonel Waterworth coordinates “Ike Dike” hurricane surge protection research activities with TAMUG faculty and research partners at Delft University of Technology, the largest and oldest Dutch public technical university; with the Institute for Regional Forecasting at the University of Houston, and with the Homeland Center of Excellence at Jackson State University in Mississippi. He also handles public outreach efforts with businesses, municipalities and non-governmental organizations in the Houston/Galveston region.

The evening will begin with a meet-and-greet and cash bar at 1800, with dinner and a short Hawkins Squadron Business Meeting at 7. The evening will conclude with Adm. Turner’s presentation and showing the film at about 7:30. Attendees can order from the regular Olympia Grill menu, and will be responsible for purchasing their own food and drinks.

The Texas Navy Association is a private, 501(c)(3) organization, dedicated to preserving and promoting the historical legacy of the naval forces of the Republic of Texas, 1835-46. The mission of the Texas Navy Association is to preserve and promote an appreciation of the historic character and heroic acts of the Texas Navy; to promote travel by visitors to historical sites and areas in which the Texas Navy operated; to conduct, in the broadest sense, a public relations campaign to create a responsible and accurate image of Texas; and to encourage Texas communities, organizations, and individuals, as well as governmental entities, to participate with actions and money, in pursuit of these objectives. Membership in the Texas Navy Association is open to all persons age 16 and over who have an interest in Texas history and want to help support the goals of the organization.

In Galveston, the Charles E. Hawkins Squadron was organized in the fall of 2016, and meets in odd-numbered months.